Domestication reprogrammed the budding yeast life cycle.

Domestication of plants and animals is the foundation for feeding the world human population but can profoundly alter the biology of the domesticated species. Here we investigated the effect of domestication on one of our prime model organisms, the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, at a species-wide level. We tracked the capacity for sexual and asexual reproduction and the chronological life span across a global collection of 1,011 genome-sequenced yeast isolates and found a remarkable dichotomy between domesticated and wild strains.

Identification of novel genes involved in neutral lipid storage by quantitative trait loci analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Background: The accumulation of intracellular fat depots is a polygenic trait. Therefore, the extent of lipid storage in the individuals of a species covers a broad range and is determined by many genetic factors. Quantitative trait loci analysis can be used to identify those genetic differences between two strains of the same species that are responsible for the differences in a given phenotype.

Ethanolamine ameliorates mitochondrial dysfunction in cardiolipin-deficient yeast cells.

Cardiolipin (CL) is a signature phospholipid of the mitochondria required for the formation of mitochondrial respiratory chain (MRC) supercomplexes. The destabilization of MRC supercomplexes is the proximal cause of the pathology associated with the depletion of CL in patients with Barth syndrome. Thus, promoting supercomplex formation could ameliorate mitochondrial dysfunction associated with CL depletion.

Higher fungi are a rich source of L-amino acid oxidases.

L-Amino acid oxidases (LAO) are widely distributed enzymes but those from snake venoms have been studied the most. We describe a method for in-gel detection of LAO activities based on HO detection by a horseradish peroxidase-coupled reaction using o-phenylenediamine. Complex substrates and single L-amino acids were used successfully for screening LAO activities in higher fungi using crude aqueous extracts of fruiting bodies of 22 basidiomycetes and 1 ascomycete.